HH Town House Living

Getting married is great for so many reasons! One often unspoken reason, is that it forces you to change. AGH!!!! SCARY!!! Hurts so good. Well, when Tyler and I got married almost 15 years ago, I thought, I was the one with design and artistic ability and he was the one who got things done. I was unconsciously thinking that I would get to make all the design decisions that pertained to our home life because that was “my thing.” Very quickly, I came to learn that Tyler actually had opinions. Strong opinions, in fact. Opinions that were opposed to my own. Style-wise, it’s as if I grew up in a Scandinavian summer home and Tyler grew up in an Oxford College library. Both were beautiful, but not exactly complimentary. What an initial struggle! I wanted to paint all the walls white, while he wanted to paint them dark green….you see what I mean? At first I struggled and resisted, and Tyler struggled and resisted, but as we worked out our marital kinks (in this and many other areas) we learned how to listen, let go, and frankly love each other better. What emerged was this blending of tastes (and our lives). I came to trust his instincts and get excited to see what he saw and vice versa. I love our style now, and it is, OUR style! We still have moments when we disagree, but we don’t dig in the way we used to. Now we are more trusting that the other has some insight that has been missed. It can feel hard to work through, but we always do, and those projects seem to come up with the richest results.

A friendly photo bomber.

So, enter the Library. We wanted this room having an “old world ” Europe feeling. I started pulling photos that were Parisian pink, but we couldn’t get away from the deeper academic burgundies that characterized so many gorgeous libraries. Tyler also had in mind we needed a gold leaf trim that you would find in continental Europe. It was going to be such a tedious project. There were so many shelves and coffers to paint and then line with the trim, but Tyler had the determination. The result is this beautiful French and English blend. Our library is the coziest spot to read a book, play with the dollhouse, work on homework, or watch a movie!

The shelves are full of family treasures, LEGO builds as bookends, favorite photos and of course, books!

A beautiful impressionist landscape by dear friend and artist Claudia Mengel.

I’m on the hunt for a leather sectional to upgrade this look to a full-blown Ivy League library.

This room features an Oriel window. An Oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of the house on the second floor and was a feature in Victorian houses that were reviving an originally gothic style. I change this special spot all the time. It’s the perfect spot to put a display for the neighborhood to enjoy or for a little person to spy on the neighborhood! I just took down the Christmas tree that resides there during Christmastime, and I’m about to do something new for Valentines day.

Here are some close-ups of Tyler’s craftsmanship! The walls are Behr “Heirloom Rose.” What a pretty name!